Taco Chicken - One pan!

I make a yummy one pan dish that's called Taco Chicken.  When my kids were very small they called it taco soup so we sometimes refer to the dish as Taco Soup, but it's chicken, taco seasoning and rice and it's so easy.

 This is my dinner with some cheese on top.  I don't eat it with a fork, just with tortilla chips!

Here is what we need.  Below is a photo of the recipe.  I took this picture so I could shop at the store :D

This recipe calls for a green pepper.  I used to put the pepper in, but I would always pick it out and so would my kids - so I left it out today.  This doesn't list garlic, but a little garlic tastes good in EVERYTHING. 

I used three breasts of chicken today.  I have used four when I have more people to feed.  But these are from Costco and it was a lot of meat.  I cut the pieces small, but I wish I had cut them even a little smaller.  Because I eat this dish with chips I don't want to have to cut the chicken any smaller - AFTER cooking it. 
So you cook the chicken in a skillet.  I cooked mine in two batches.  With all the cooked chicken in the pan, add the can of chicken broth, a small can of tomato sauce and the taco seasoning.  Bring this to a boil then cover and simmer for 5 minutes, stirring often. 

Add the can of drained corn and the green pepper.  Bring to a boil again and add the minute rice.

Stir well, turn off the heat.  Cover and let sit for 5-7 minutes.  Put some cheese on top and scoop it up with tortilla chips.  YUMMY!

Diaper and wipes holder and Baby Bib

I have several friends having babies and my favorite brother and sister in law just had TWIN boys. So I had to make one of these, in blue! 

Diaper Pouch Tutorial

I made my flap from material and I think I will put a button over the velcro before giving the pouch away.  Another tutorial I did recently was a Bapron  which I think is a contraction of baby apron which is really a bib that doesn't flip around.  I made one for a friend who LOVES it.  I need to make more blue ones as you can see.  I lined mine with plain white flannel. 

Bapron tutorial  is the original tutorial.  When I made the larger bib for a 1 1/2 year old child, I took the pattern in to Kinkos and enlarged it by 25%.  It worked well. 

Roll up bags - so easy!

I loved the pin for the roll up bags.  They are reversable if you want and they roll up very small for throwing in your purse, diaper bag or glove compartment.    The original pin can be found here:


roll up tote tutorial

On the first one I made I was trying to follow the directions for the directional fabric for the letters and I made the mistake of measuring or checking only once before cutting.  Never do this.  You have to measure twice, figure it out in your head and then you can cut.  So when I cut the 21" X 16" piece the keys would have been running up and down instead of right to left.  So....I improvised.  I had bought this fabric especially to make something for my daughter who is at BYU.  She loves books, reading and typewriters and the fabric reminded me of her.  So I modified the pattern and made a smaller bag.  But then I had to redeem myself so I made one the correct size and I was very happy with the outcome.

The smaller one ended up 10 1/4" X 11 1/2" and the larger bag is  15 1/4" X 14 1/2".  Here is a photo of the larger one rolled up.

Perhaps two things I did differently is that one, I lined with linen.  I have a couple bags I made reversible and I never flip them, so I didn't want to 'waste' the pretty expensive fabric.   Secondly, after ironing the handles I sewed the folded side first instead of the side with the two open ends.  I hope that makes sense, but it made for less folding and or puckering when sewing the handles. 

I will probably make several more because they are so easy!  Have fun with her nice tutorial!
Patricia

Parmesan Ranch Chicken - Disclaimer - it's my creation

At our house we LOVE Parmesan Chicken. That's what we call it.  But it has three ingredients so maybe we should be calling it Parmesan Ranch Chicken.  You take a couple of breasts of chicken and cut them into slices.  Then dip each slice into Ranch dressing - the kind out of the bottle, not the dry powder stuff.  After you dip it in the Ranch, making sure that it's not dripping with ranch, but instead just moist, then roll it in Parmesan cheese. 

Then take those cut up pieces and place them in a frying pan and cook them.  Don't add anything else.  Cook them until they are 165 degrees in the thickest part of the chicken.  See the USDA recommended internal temperatures for meat suggestions. 

http://www.fsis.usda.gov/is_it_done_yet/brochure_text/index.asp

I love this thing.  My sweet family got it for me for Christmas of 2010 and I use it ALL the time.  Get one!
This chicken is SO yummy.  Serve it with rice and veggies. 

Composition Notebook cover

I saw this composition cover and wanted to make the very intricate one, but the author has two patterns included and one of them is an easier pattern so I thought I would try the easier one first and make sure I liked it.  But I don't like it, I LOVE it.  I love that I can flip it over and have two different looks.  I like that it looks SO much better than a regular notebook. 

One side

Put it on the other way and now THIS is the front

The site for the original pattern can be found here:
http://sewmamasew.com/blog2/2010/03/jennifers-fabric-focus-back-to-school-notebooks/

I think her instructions were clear and easy to follow.  I made very few changes.  One thing I did that I liked better is that when I measured for the lining fabric (11.5" X 22") I cut two pieces of fabric that were both 11.5" tall, but they were both about 14" wide.  I placed one on and then the other, sewing ALL the way around and then turning it inside out through the middle.  I don't know if this makes sense, but it's like the back of some decorative pillow cases that are washable.  Here is a photo of it after I turned it.

Here are a couple of shots that I took while I was sewing and cutting.

I draw only one single line down the middle and then sew 1/4" from the line on both sides.  I think drawing three lines is a waste of my time - at least as long as I have my 1/4" presser foot.

This is a good shot of my 1/4" presser foot and of me chain stitching those blocks together (and a shot of my fingers that look like my mother's!)

After the square is sewn on both sides of the line, you cut it on the drawn line.

Each square needs to be squared up!

This is the outside after quilting.  You can see some of the detail in the quilting.  I got to use my new Walking Foot (thanks to my hubby).  What a great project!

Original blog site for this pattern is:  http://www.lionbrand.com/patterns/80985AD.html?r=1

I made this one in a steel grey that is kind of multi-toned (which doesn't really show in the photo) and loved it.  I sent it off to my daughter.  I learned to crochet when I was young but have never really followed a written pattern so this was a new experience for me.  The pattern was fairly easy to follow and I only had to pull it out once....more because I found I was not reading the instructions correcctly.  I have since made a second one in purple and it was much easier the second time around!  I really have to make one and keep it for myself :)

What will it Bee?? #2 FOOD

This is the food section of the shower.  I decided that I needed a layout for the food so I could keep everything straight in my head.  I drew a diagram so I knew how everything should look on shower day and so I could keep a list of what food items were made and what still needed to be done.

 There is a list on the back with day by day things I needed to do so I wouldn't be stressed. :D
I made cake pops and Black Bottom cupcakes:

Cake pops are made by making a regular cake (I made mine in a 9 X 11" pan with the regular recipe on the back of the box).  After the cake is cooled completely you break the cake up in a bowl until it is just crumbly.  Take one container of icing and mix it with the cake.  This just barely holds together.  Roll them into small balls and then put a sucker stick in each cake pop and dip them in melted chocolate.  Today I displayed them on a plate so I let them drip standing straight up, but I have previously made some and displayed them stuck in styrofoam that is placed in a pot so I dried those on their sides.  (see them in the back of this photo?)

Black bottom cupcakes are:
1 C. sugar
1 1/2 C. Flour
1/3 C. cocoa
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 C. water
1/2 C. Oil
2 tsp. vanilla
1 T. vinegar
1 egg
Mix well, then fold in 3/4 C. chocolate chips.  Fill the cupcake tins 1/2 full with this mixture.
Then mix together 8 oz of cream cheese softened (don't use "less fat" or Non-fat - it won't work - I've tried it.)  1/3 C. Sugar and one egg.  Beat well.  Then put a large spoonful of cream cheese mixture on the top or pushed down into the chocolate mixture a little bit.  Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes.

Check out the cute bee fabric I found.  I tore off the ends of the fabric into a square and used it on the island.  I used a couple of books in different areas to add height.
Cucumber Feta Cheese rolls - I don't really like Feta Cheese, but I was hoping friends would like these and they were a hit!  (I didn't have any dill so I left it out).  I found them here:

http://www.goodlifeeats.com/2011/12/cucumber-feta-rolls-holiday-recipe-exchange.html

I made chicken salad sandwiches.  I bought the chicken salad from Costco, added sliced almonds and  cut up grapes.  They were yummy!

 I made this cool jello mold.  My Mom makes a layered jello every holiday and it's become a family tradition.  So when I saw this on Pinterest, I thought, I can do that!

http://rock-ur-party.tablespoon.com/2011/05/23/spiked-rainbow-salad/

Usually we make our layered jello in a 9" X 11" pan.  I thought no sweat, I'll use my regular recipe and make it in a jello mold.  But the jello mold didn't turn out as well as I wanted.  Next time I would make it in the 9" X 11" pan.  You take 5 or 6 - 4oz jello flavors.  For each layer of jello boil one cup of water and mix with one flavor of jello.  Divide in half.  In one half add 4 T of sour cream (fat free of course) and wisk.  Place this layer in the pan in the fridge.  Make sure this layer is even, use a papertowel or whatever you need to make it level.  After 30 minutes add 4 T of water to the other half of the jello and add it to the first layer.  Continue layering the jello until it is finished.

In addition, I covered pretzels in chocolate.  I drizzled some pretzels and added sprinkles to other ones.

In the middle of the table I had a tray of Mexican food. 

 

Over to the side there were water bottles.

Here is the Mom to be, lovely Valerie with her fun friend Amber.

It was a great party and Valerie and baby were literally showered with gifts!

What will it Bee??

My great friend Valerie is having a baby.  Valerie is married to a man she loves and together they have a little girl who is almost two and baby number two on the way.  She has chosen to not find out what the gender of the baby is and so everything is gender neutral.  I wanted to give Valerie a shower and I scouted Pinterest (see my shower board) for ideas.  I loved the 'banner' idea
http://thetoastedcoconut.blogspot.com/2011/05/baby-shower-invites.html
and I tried an invitation or two like this and I figured I could make a matching banner in gender neutral colors with paper or with fabric.  But somehow...it just wasn't quite what I wanted.  So I kept looking.  Then I found this great blog where she had done a 'What will it bee?" shower and I knew that's what I loved!
http://jackandmandy.blogspot.com/2009/03/its-baby-shower-day.html
But I didn't really like the invitations so I created my own -

That picture is coming....I need to take a photo of one of them!

I loved the bee diaper cake and knew I wanted to try making a diaper cake on my own.  I had never done one and so I asked my friend Mary who has made several for a few tips at bookclub.  She gave me some great pointers.  Chris another friend gave me some huge rubber bands and without those you couldn't make this cake.  Mary said to use size 2 or 3 diapers because the newborn diapers are just too small.  So I bought a box of Huggies size 2.  I took one diaper and rolled it up and placed a small rubber band around it.  I think took a stack of diapers and layed them out on the table as if I was fanning out a deck of cards.  I made it so I could see just 1/2" - 1" of the end of the diaper and then the next diaper was on top of it.  I had the folded end sticking out.  After I stacked several (12 for the top layer not counting the center diaper) I put them around the middle diaper and rubber banded them on.  I then adjusted them so they were fairly evenly spaced.  After the cake was complete, I ended up replacing the single rolled up diaper with a bottle of baby wash.

On the second tier of the cake I rolled six diapers up (each one individually) and rubber banded them.  I then made a stack of 16 I think and did the same thing.  For this layer I enlisted a member of my family.  Again, I rubber banded and then adjusted them. 

For the bottom layer I did 8 and 25 diapers.  I ended up using about 3/4 of the package of diapers.  I gave the rest to mom in the box.  I think bought two ribbons, one a 2" wide and another 1" wide.  Again I was going with the yellow and black theme.  I used a hot glue gun to make sure they stayed together and then glued the end over slightly.  I used a straight pin to pin the ribbon to itself in the back of the cake.  I found a four package of bees at Hobby Lobby and attached them to black pipe cleaners that I had in my craft box.  I curled the black pipe cleaners around a pencil and then placed them around the cake.  I also found a wooden 'T' (baby's last name starts with a T) at Hobby Lobby and painted it black.  I didn't take a good picture of it.  But sweet Valerie recreated it when she arrived home.

Food coming in the next section.....

I love Pinterest!

I admit it.  I'm addicted.  I love Pinterest and I'm proud to say that I'm not just a looker, I've tried a few things and I want to try even more.  So this blog is going to be about the things I've tried and whether or not they worked and what (if any) suggestions I have in case you want to try it too.  Some of the fun things I like don't have instructions or tutorials so if I try them I will try to create a tutorial.  I'll try to link everything back to the pin that started it all!  So here goes!!